The value of and need for marmosets in research will increase in the future. The shortage of primates from import sources and the knowledge that colony-reared animals can provide a superior animal for study make the development of marsoset breeding colonies imperative. Continuation of the colony at Texas A&M University will provide healthy, uniform experimental animals for biomedical research. The general purpose production colony of the genera Callithrix and Saguinus will be developed in an indoor-outdoor environment. The overall aim of the proposed research is to maintain a self-sustaining breeding colony of marmosets with maximum reproduction in order to provide animals for biomedical research. To this end, the specific goals of the project are: 1) to establish and maintain a self-sustaining colony of 100 breeding pairs of marmosets, 2) to develop and improve methods of fertility evaluation of male and female marmosets, 3) to characterize marmoset wasting (chronic wasting syndrome) and determine control methods, 4) to evaluate the protein requirements of mature and juvenile marmosets, and 5) to describe and determine the incidence of congenital defects in the colony. This colony is further being developed to become self-sustaining so that federal support can eventually be withdrawn. The primate colony will be maintained for production of standardized animals with a known biological profile for researchers at this and other institutions on a fee basis. Symposia and educational programs relating to the marmoset will be made available to investigators engaged in primate research.